Uncle Zombie was undeterred by Lu Chuan's pleas. He stopped when Lu Chuan stopped and moved when Lu Chuan moved.
"Fine, you win."
Lu Chuan didn't have the strength to even move his fingers, his exhaustion surpassing his fear.
Setting aside the fear in his heart, the weakened Lu Chuan sat down on the grass at the edge of the country road.
"I'll die if I have to."
Lu Chuan laid back on the grass decisively and panted. He had to rest even if he was going to die. He would have died of exhaustion if he continued to run.
Uncle Zombie walked toward Lu Chuan and stood in front of him rigidly. He was motionless like a statue.
Compared to Lu Chuan's heavy pants, Uncle Zombie didn't even catch his breath—he wasn't even breathing.
Gasping for breath, Lu Chuan took the chance to rationalize everything that had happened.
He had obviously been overreacting from the fear. Lu Chuan raised his head and glanced at the explanation above Uncle Zombie's face. It was only after he calmed that he understood the content of the explanation.
Servant; that was Uncle Zombie's status.
Since he was an attendant, a subordinate assigned by the zombie factory and half a bodyguard, he wouldn't attack Lu Chuan and would only follow him mechanically.
Besides, Uncle Zombie couldn't transmit the virus, which had been isolated.
The rest of the explanation had a more easily understood, literal meaning. Uncle Zombie was automatically loaded with a disguiser program, which was probably how the horrifying zombie from before became the middle-aged man he was looking at right now.
Otherwise, news about a zombie appearing in the modern world would terrify the population. He would cause a stir throughout the whole world, and with the government's power, it wouldn't be long before he was found.
Lu Chuan exhaled. But so what if he knew that the zombie was an attendant?
Whenever Lu Chuan thought about the zombie's identity, he found it hard to accept and deep inside, he hadn't assimilated this reality.
...
"Sit."
On the small country road, Lu Chuan made this command.
Uncle Zombie, who had been standing emotionlessly in front of Lu Chuan, sat down without hesitation upon receiving Lu Chuan's instruction. He completely disregarded the dirt on the trail.
"Stand up!"
Lu Chuan stared at Uncle Zombie without blinking and issued another command.
Without hesitation, Uncle Zombie stood up straight in front of Lu Chuan.
Gradually, Lu Chuan's eyes lit up.
A servant who would follow instructions without hesitation. Compared to a bodyguard, he was more loyal and had stronger executive ability. If he were a human bodyguard, he definitely wouldn't have sat on the dirt so decisively upon Lu Chaun's command. He would have even questioned Lu Chuan's command.
This sort of execution is indeed as stated in the description—rigid.
100% loyalty?
From the looks of things, Lu Chuan could only try to believe it.
When the fear disappeared, he was left with curiosity.
Facing the standing zombie, Lu Chuan walked around him a few times, observing him curiously. From the outside, there was no difference between the zombie and an ordinary middle-aged man. In appearance, one couldn't see the slightest flaw.
A zombie is a monster without emotion. After activating the disguiser program, it could only disguise its appearance, not its expression.
The emptiness of the zombie remained, making Uncle Zombie seem more like the soulless walking dead.
After studying him for a while, Lu Chuan realized that Uncle Zombie was still brainless.
He could execute simple commands but anything more complicated would cause confusion. It was like whistling in the wind.
Put in a crowd, Uncle Zombie's appearance wasn't a problem, but the differences could be seen in just one glance. He was as conspicuous as an intellectually disabled child.
"His intelligence is flawed!"
Lu Chuan sighed in acceptance of the fact that he had a zombie servant.
...
After learning that Uncle Zombie wasn't a threat, Lu Chuan finally stopped running madly in fear.
He walked on the country road slowly, local villagers passing him occasionally, not giving him more than a single glance.
Uncle Zombie was just as cold and emotionless as he walked, but he wasn't noticeable.
After being on edge for a while, Lu Chuan finally calmed down. The disguiser program wouldn't be invalidated regardless of the circumstances unless he commanded otherwise.
In the eyes of outsiders, Uncle Zombie was just an intellectually disabled middle-aged man.
Lu Chuan shook his head. If a zombie could be as agile as a human, the survivors in the apocalypse would not have survived for such a long time and humans would have been extinct.
A zombie barely had any intelligence, making it a burden.
Lu Chuan studied civil engineering in university, but after graduation, he worked as a supervisor in a renovation company. His monthly salary was around three thousand dollars and in a coastal city, that's considered the level of a general worker. Due to his poor familial conditions and because he just stepped into society, Lu Chuan could tolerate the low salary at the start.
He had been working at the renovation company for almost a year.
Seeing his classmates enter well-paying departments or profitable companies through their connections, Lu Chuan became very irritable, so he took a week of leave from work and returned to his hometown, wanting to get away from the restless city to calm down.
Who would have thought that such a mysterious situation could have happened while traveling back home?
"I don't even know if this thing needs food."
This was the area Lu Chuan struggled in, his limited salary. He had to send 2,000 yuan to his parents every month and the remaining 1,000 was barely enough after paying for food and rent.
Now that he had an additional… zombie, it was a disaster for his pitiful salary.
As for Lu Chuan's small nest, it was suitable to live in by himself, but would definitely be too crowded with another person.
Lu Chuan still wasn't able to accept squeezing in with a zombie even though it had taken on a human appearance. It was a tiny apartment. If they had to live together, Lu Chuan was certain he wouldn't be able to sleep.
"I'll take it one step at a time."
Lu Chuan laughed bitterly. He couldn't just leave Uncle Zombie on the street. If the disguiser program lost effect, the consequences would be inconceivable.
Lu Chuan walked from the country road to the highway at the village entrance. It was on the outskirts of the provincial capital and had buses leading to the city.
...
On a bus to the suburbs, Lu Chuan sat by the window.
Although he accepted Uncle Zombie's existence, Lu Chuan still had a creepy feeling when he sat next to him and was frightened.
There were few renovation companies within the city; they would move with every expansion.
It was the same at the small-scale renovation company that Lu Chuan was working at. Unlike established renovation companies that could casually set up a branch elsewhere, smaller renovation companies would directly move their headquarters.
There were many people on the bus, and it filled up quickly.
There was no avoiding it. This bus passed the more crowded areas, so there would be more passengers.
"It's indeed messy."
Lu Chuan was looking at the young man beside him.
The young man was very ordinary; there wasn't anything out of place. But Lu Chuan saw that he had a blade in one hand and a clamp in the other. In just a short three to five seconds, he sliced through a girl's bag, taking a wallet from inside.
There were many people on the bus, and the frequent jerks from the brakes gave him an advantage.
Pickpockets were rare in urban areas, but they were still active on the buses outside the suburbs. The police force in the suburbs was weak, which was advantageous to their operations.
The pickpocket made use of the stops and the crowds, taking three items in just a few minutes. His tactics were sophisticated and he could maintain a straight face after each success.
Uncle Zombie sat upright in his chair, standing out from the crowd.
"Standing like a pine and sitting like a bell" was probably the best description for Uncle Zombie.
Suddenly…
Uncle Zombie stood up, walked in front of the young pickpocket, and shot his hands out at lighting speed, grabbing the young pickpocket's hands. The pickpocket had been using the clamp to fish out a small wallet.
A zombie thought in a straightforward manner.
Just like in the movies, they would pounce without hesitation once a target had been detected, even if there was a sea of flames between them.
With such straightforward thinking, Uncle Zombie wasn't reserved or subtle. He grabbed onto the pickpocket's hand like a metal clamp. The difference between zombies and humans lies in the use of power, which can be 100% in the zombies' case.
Ordinary people can only use 60% of their strength. People who have been trained, such as weightlifters and boxers, can reach 80%, but that's the limit.
"Aiyo!"
100% strength. The pickpocket cried out at the near bone-breaking pain.
The passengers on the bus turned toward the commotion and saw the tools in the pickpocket's hand. They instantly understood the situation.
"Pickpocket?"
Everyone had the same thought.
Some of them reacted quickly, rummaging through their pockets and backpacks.
Usually, those who weren't affected would mind their own business. But that wasn't the case now. When someone stood up, this attitude could instantly change to follow the crowd.
Several hot-blooded young university students stared at the pickpocket blatantly.
"My wallet!"
"My phone!"
Several victims cried out.
In a matter of seconds, everyone on the bus was filled with righteous indignation.
"Let go."
This pickpocket was young but very experienced. His other hand pulled a dagger from his waist, a fierce light in his eyes. If the situation got out of control, the people in the vehicle might beat him to death before sending him to the police. In order to avoid that, he had to make them very afraid.
The pickpocket's fierce eyes managed to scare many people. They shrunk back subconsciously.
But Uncle Zombie wasn't fazed. Expressionless, he stared at the pickpocket with his hollow eyes.
The chilling aura made the pickpocket panic.
"F*ck you, mind your own business."
The threat was useless. Coupled with Uncle Zombie's chilling aura, the pickpocket lost control of his emotions and stabbed hard with his dagger.
That stab was mostly a test. A normal person would have dodged or moved aside, allowing them to escape.
Pssh!
The dagger stabbed hard into Uncle Zombie's heart.
The pickpocket judged him as a human but Uncle Zombie wasn't human. The words dodge and fear weren't in a zombie's dictionary.